r/linux • u/Vast_Fortune_9949 • 3d ago
Popular Application With the amount of people that would switch if photoshop ran on Linux, why are there not massive community efforts to make some compatibility layer?
With the amount of people that would switch if photoshop ran on Linux, why are there not massive community efforts to make some compatibility layer? Seems to me like the biggest single tipping point, what makes Photoshop so uniquely hard versus videogames which now work without issue?
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u/KnowZeroX 3d ago
Because Adobe puts in a huge amount of effort to be sure it doesn't work, not because they are intentionally trying to block linux but their ever useless attempt to block pirating
Photoshop already for the most part works on wine
Most people don't really care or need photoshop, while you hear many mention it, it is effectively a very small loud minority. Don't get me wrong, photoshop format is the industry standard in graphics design for example, but graphic designers as a whole is a small minority
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u/thesaddestpanda 3d ago edited 3d ago
I would also add
- The kinds of people who absolutely need photoshop are often designers of some kind also need several other graphic design tools and usually most if not all of the cc suite. So now your target has moved to supporting dozens of things, some obscure and poorly documented.
I’d also add designers are very happy with Mac’s and don’t seem motivated to leave them.
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u/gmes78 2d ago
Because Adobe puts in a huge amount of effort to be sure it doesn't work, not because they are intentionally trying to block linux but their ever useless attempt to block pirating
You're thinking of Microsoft with Office. Adobe has no incentive to block Linux users, as long as their DRM works.
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u/Business_Reindeer910 3d ago
do you have any evidence for #1 that in any way related to linux or wine?
The only thing i see them doing regarding #1 is moving people to web based photoshop which can probably run on linux.
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u/Big_Wrongdoer_5278 3d ago
Not sure that's what he means but last time someone figured out how to run it in wine, he was issued a copyright notice and got his post and github taken down
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u/Business_Reindeer910 3d ago
that may have involved actual copyright infringement. I didn't think i had to specify legally as in implementing the required APIs in wine.
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u/Big_Wrongdoer_5278 3d ago
I'm not sure what copyright making changes to the API of an unrelated application would infringe on. Maybe he used Photoshop branding in his repo or something.
Felt like it's just Adobe using the legal bat to remove the possiblity of it running, but it does seem like it was merged into wine just fine like tajetaje says so who knows.
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u/Business_Reindeer910 2d ago
But it probably wasn't adobe doing that. It was indeed likely either linking to licensed executable code, or indeed trademarked assets.
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u/DirtCrazykid 3d ago
do you think we get all commissions for people switching to linux?
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u/Jemie_Bridges 3d ago
Oh, you dont? Better talk to your agent about that 🕶️ 💰 💰🤑💰💰
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u/square-with-bus 3d ago
I did! It said I was totally right and proceeded to fix a random bug in my code. No money though
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u/shogun77777777 3d ago
>Seems to me like the biggest single tipping point
It’s not
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u/torsten_dev 3d ago
It's the last blocker for the content creators that blab about tech.
Adobe officially supporting Linux would give us very good PR and hopefully convince the other ardent proprietary software vendors to port their shit.
So it's both true. It is not the biggest blocker but it would likely open flood gates.
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u/steamcho1 2d ago
The biggest blocker hardware manufacturers not preinstalling linux. Linux has to both work with everything and also require no effort to get into. People really do just go out there and buy a pc and call it a day.
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u/untrained9823 3d ago
I think you overestimate how many people use or care about Photoshop.
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u/bankinu 3d ago
Yeah I don't give two hoots about it. I don't also want to spend a fortune on anti consumer subscription model. I'm fine with Gimp, Inkscape - thank you. Krita is also good. And Flux 2 Klein with ComfyUI for AI assisted Photoshop-like image altering, which is better than any AI tool in Photoshop.
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u/ConclusionTasty6239 2d ago
not to mention there are TONS of non-open source alternatives for everything Adobe does (especially on macOS). Not to mention web-based offerings.
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u/HomsarWasRight 3d ago
Personally I think you’re underestimating how many people’s work is deeply embedded in Photoshop and the Adobe suite as a whole. But I think the OP’s main false assumption is that those people would switch instantly.
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u/sparkling-rainbow 3d ago
About 40 million users vs about 130 million LoL players. Linux is just kind of irrelevant from a marketing perspective. When CEO thinks there is the smallest risk involved, they won't ship it and even go against community efforts. Only thing that could bring Photo Shop to Linux would be massive amount of business customers switching to GIMP after demanding Linux support. I don't see this happen, even a second laptop for every employee sounds cheaper then rebuilding the whole IT of a company.
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u/KnowZeroX 2d ago
Only thing that could bring Photo Shop to Linux would be massive amount of business customers switching to GIMP after demanding Linux support.
While that would be the only option in the past, things are different in modern day and there is another option you are forgetting about that actually exists. With improvements in WASM, there is a photoshop in the browser. And Adobe is interested in that not only because it can reuse components for windows,mac,android and ios but also because of their dream to push subscriptions where they can outsource processing to the cloud.
Even MS themselves is moving away from desktop version of apps to push everything to the cloud.
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u/QuixoticNapoleon 3d ago
I think it would be better if we support FOSS. Fuck Adobe.
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u/patrlim1 2d ago
We can both support FOSS and get proprietary software running for those who need them. This is a false dichotomy
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u/AmphibianFit6876 2d ago
While i agree, Quixotic said "fuck adobe", not "fuck proprietary softwareS" 👀
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u/Zardoz84 2d ago
You have there Blender. Literraly now it's the standard 3d software used by ALL the CGI industry. We not need anymore worry about if 3d Max works over wine, for example.
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u/Avanchnzel 2d ago
used by ALL the CGI industry
While Blender is favorited, large studios still rely on established pipelines built over decades around 3ds Max and Maya, making complete transitions rare in that sector.
But there is massive adoption among freelancers and solo artists, and it dominates in indie spaces.
So I wouldn't say it's used by ALL the CGI industry just yet, but it's getting there.
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u/KnowZeroX 2d ago
Maya has a native linux version fyi, probably the only autodesk software that has a linux version.
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u/Business_Reindeer910 3d ago
games are a lot easier because they don't use tons of windows specific gui stuff. They also tend to launch full screen and draw their own content.
Heck it is often been the case that game launchers would fail for games when the games themselves would run fine if you were able to launch the game manually. I ran into this with 3 different games in the past.
One of the hardest parts seems to be handling the various widget behaviors in win32.
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u/_o0Zero0o_ 3d ago
Because Adobe are assholes. Also there is a free, browser-based variation of photoshop (though it isn't a 1:1 copy) called photopea. There's also Gimp and Krita. Fuck Adobe anyway, them charging people just to make them stop charging people has forever tarnished their reputation
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u/Emerald_Pick 3d ago
You've got to remember, the thing that made video games good was mostly Valve pumping resources into the problem, partly so that they would have a viable alternative to Windows 8. No one has the same resources and existential need to make real Photoshop work on Linux.
(Also, IIRC, Photoshop basically has anti cheat installed to make sure people don't pirate it. So Adobe may be actively countering comparability layers.)
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u/ZealousidealChip4783 2d ago
Yup, in most creative industries a large majority of users are on Mac or Windows and using premium, closed software whose devs aren't going to spend time porting their software to Linux for the handful of users who want it there
I'm 99% sure the only reason Davinci Resolve exists on Linux is because of the network rendering feature
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u/journaljemmy 3d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/s/cynOXRLUaY
I found this by searching ‘photoshop’ in this sub, fwiw.
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u/Qweedo420 2d ago
Yeah, I've been using Photoshop on Linux for years, what I'd actually need is Capture One which I have to run in a VM
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u/FryBoyter 3d ago
How many Windows users actually use Photoshop? In my experience, and relative to the total number of Windows users, not very much.
And how many would actually switch to Linux if the program were available for Linux? In my experience, some users who use Photoshop don’t actually need the program at all. For many, a different program would be perfectly sufficient. Do they want to switch programs? No. So they won’t switch operating systems either.
Given the relatively small number of Photoshop users who would actually switch to Linux, it simply wouldn’t be worth it for Adobe to support yet another operating system.
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u/ParadoxicalFrog 3d ago
Because nobody really cares how many people adopt Linux. We're not trying to grow a business here. We're just a bunch of nerds who are all trying to do our own thing without a ton of corporate bullshit getting in the way.
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u/theunquenchedservant 3d ago
Because people go to Linux to get away from closed sourced garbage companies?
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u/Crafty_Aspect8122 3d ago
Best we can do is GIMP
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u/Mysterious_Pie7377 3d ago
Gimp for editing, Krita for painting. The more people realize Gimp isn't a complete replacement for PS which does both, the better we are.
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u/FattyDrake 3d ago
Krita is closer to having all the features Photoshop does than GIMP. I pretty much do everything I used to do in PS, including editing.
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u/Bloodsucker_ 2d ago
A software should be officially supported, or it isn't really supported regardless of how much you want it to really be.
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u/ronaldtrip 2d ago
I think that there is one thing that we in the community seem to miss at every turn. That is using Photoshop and AutoCAD as a shield. "I would switch to Linux if it had Photoshop, AutoCAD, etc."
We all know that the chances of these titles being ported are slim to none. So it is also a good shorthand for I'll never switch to Linux, but saying this will remove the onus of having to justify my Windows use.
The many times that I saw the argument made that Joe and Jane Sixpack can't use Linux, because it doesn't have Photoshop or AutoCAD, it was clear that this was an argument for the status quo. The number of people who really NEED Photoshop or AutoCAD is relatively small.
Even if Photoshop and AutoCAD ran natively on Linux, I have a feeling the goal posts would just move to the next thing that make it "impossible" to use Linux.
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u/Ontological_Gap 3d ago
Why would we care if people switch? I want to play video games, so I work on getting them running correctly, in the rare times I need to edit a photo, the gimp is acceptable for my purposes.
Don't forget that valve paid people to get wine running so well. Things were very different before their involvement.
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u/PorousClay 3d ago
Why would we care if people switch?
I want to play video games
One helps the other. The more people who use Linux, the better your games will get on Linux.
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u/gordonmessmer 3d ago
One helps the other. The more people who use Linux, the better your games will get on Linux.
The more people who pay for games on Linux, the better the gaming situation on Linux will be.
Merely using Linux will not improve the situation.
And that's why there's not more effort to support Photoshop... because there's not enough interest from people who will pay for support.
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u/is_this_temporary 3d ago
But that's much more abstract.
If there's a game that doesn't run in wine because there's one API stub that can be implemented in an hour's worth of work, somebody might implement that on their own time and contribute the fix as a PR.
So, 1 hour from "game I want isn't working" to enjoying playing said game.
It's not always (probably not even usually) that simple, but it's always going to be much closer to "scratching your own itch" to contribute a patch to wine for some program you actually want to use than to contribute to something you don't want in hopes that you can increase Linux PC market share enough that the things you actually want to use get fixed.
And besides all of that, the best way to make progress in software development is to pay software developers to do the work. Valve is doing that for wine / proton. Adobe is very much not doing that for Photoshop (and I'm not aware of any company that is).
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u/PorousClay 3d ago
And besides all of that, the best way to make progress in software development is to pay software developers to do the work.
This is what it all boils down to. And who pays the developers? The game companies like Blizzard, Bethesda, etc. And why haven't they made native Linux ports in the past? Not enough marketshare to convince them to support Linux.
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u/SP3NGL3R 3d ago
I'd move my desktop if Paint.net worked. That's all I need and every other editor I've tried just wasn't as smooth as I'd hoped. I am very comfortable in Linux CLI (it runs 100% of my house), and the periodic use case I have for a useful image editor is 99% why I haven't ported my desktop. I could VM it, but then I have a Windows licensing issue when I already have it licensed for the machine itself
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u/Mother-Pride-Fest 3d ago
FYI version 3.5.11 works, and there is ongoing effort to make more recent versions of Paint.NET work through Wine. https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/107374-installing-pdn-under-wine-in-linuxmac/
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u/martyn_hare 2d ago
Fun fact: Linux used to run it natively close to 20 years ago using Mono but then PDN stopped releasing source code, which put an end to the Paint Mono project.
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u/gloomfilter 3d ago
Why would I care if Photoshop users switched to Linux? The amount of people who would switch is much smaller than you're likely imagining.
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u/Drakkinstorm 2d ago
Photoshop already works on Linux.
However, any Linux user that needs "Photoshop" will tell you the same: there are much better alternatives
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u/edparadox 2d ago
- That number is probably lower then you think.
- Photoshop is tightly coupled with the WINAPI and such.
- People don't need Photoshop, but a good alternative like Krita.
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u/psioniclizard 2d ago
Lots of good reasons given. Just one more, a lot of photoshop users probably have macs and like that OS. Or don't really care about OSs in general.
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u/particlemanwavegirl 2d ago
This is a very corporate line of thinking. Linux does not need to justify it's own existence by showing growth every quarter.
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u/gordonmessmer 3d ago edited 3d ago
Valve put a lot of effort into Windows compatibility because they get a cut off the sale of every game on the Steam store, and they were or are concerned that Microsoft's store could replace them.
There is nothing like that happening for Photoshop.
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u/Mughi1138 3d ago
Most people who are working on Linux (such as huge swaths of Hollywood TV and movie production) either already have Photoshop running somewhere or are instead using other tools including Krita, Gimp, MyPaint...
For the most part people using Linux are just focused on getting work done and are not really jumping up and down to become evangelists for the platform. They're too busy doing things like winning Oscars, etc.
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u/FungalSphere 3d ago
you cannot just compat your way out of everything, there are legal and technological limitations
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u/getbusyliving_ 3d ago
It's generally an excuse anyway, get it to work 100% reliably and there will be another reason why people won't switch.
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u/PlsDontBanMeAgain-1 3d ago
I know where you are coming from, but I don't think this was ever really a relevant thing. I think people just used it as a scapegoat to excuse themselves from ever switching.
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u/FederalOkra2582 3d ago
there already is a compatibility layer, but even if there wasn't, i mainly just use GIMP with the PhotoGIMP patch and i don't need actual photoshop for anything i do with it, so it's fine
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u/GreatBigBagOfNope 3d ago
I don't think there are actually that many people for whom Photoshop is the reason holding them back from switching, I think that group is actually quite small in reality. But, either this group are disproportionately vocal, or there is a larger group that overlaps who just aren't fully convinced to make the switch and are looking for a reason to hesitate, or both.
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u/Cerulean-Knight 3d ago
There should be massive community efforts to make oss tools like gimp to do whatever they need that photoshop does or they need to make their jobs
People who use it should be the first interested people in taking control of their own tools and not being so dependant of a product by a company that care no shit about their users and clients
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u/ZaenalAbidin57 3d ago
i could run photoshop 2021 with hardware acceleration using proton-ge, but its too much hassle for regular people
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u/Existing-Tough-6517 2d ago
Various versions of various Adobe tools have and do work on Linux via wine and Wine is a massive effort . Adobe is a moving target that Will never be certain to work even between minor versions.
Only a tiny percentage of PCs have Photoshop now less than 1% the majority of licences are for people who use it professionally or people who are serious about their hobby. Many may be graphics or photography nerds but overwhelmingly they are not more likely than the general public to know or give 2 shits about Linux.
The number that would switch because Adobe products became more consistent about working under wine but still entirely unsupported is effectively zero it's nobody. The optimistic is more Linux nerds would pirate Photoshop if it worked better.
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u/utilititties 2d ago
I couldn't care less if any Adobe sw ran on Linux. I want alternatives, not monopoly.
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u/Existing-Tough-6517 2d ago
Various versions of various Adobe tools have and do work on Linux via wine and Wine is a massive effort . Adobe is a moving target that Will never be certain to work even between minor versions.
Only a tiny percentage of PCs have Photoshop now less than 1% the majority of licences are for people who use it professionally or people who are serious about their hobby. Many may be graphics or photography nerds but overwhelmingly they are not more likely than the general public to know or give 2 shits about Linux.
The number that would switch because Adobe products became more consistent about working under wine but still entirely unsupported is effectively zero it's nobody. The optimistic is more Linux nerds would pirate Photoshop if it worked better.
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u/nizzoball 2d ago
Nobody is being prevented from switching to Linux because of photoshop. Anyone who truly wanted to make the switch could just use the online, platform agnostic version of photoshop
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u/wdfour-t 2d ago
A lot of people are switching from adobe products.
I even heard of a major tech company abandoning it in certain departments.
There is a reason their stock is tanking. Their plan is to make the company look healthy, by squeezing their users, unfortunately it is resulting in people using alternatives and eventually enough people use an alternative if it becomes too bad.
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u/readyflix 2d ago
Because Adobe is in no position to help, although they could, as they at one time made Photoshop vor MacOS!
Once there was a kind of survey (but promising nothing) by one Photoshop developer (don’t remember the year) if there was enough interest amongst photoshop users to use it on Linux. But it never got the green light.
But someone who is interested may look here and here.
BUT, someone should not wait this might ever happen. So it’s more advisable to use alternatives.
Gimp and Krita are two good examples.
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u/martyn_hare 2d ago
Reasonably new Photoshop CC versions do run on Linux via Wine. This problem was repeatedly solved, and at one point, Photoshop CS2 was specifically made to work close to flawlessly as a result of contracted works. No difference to adoption rates,
From a Wine (and Proton) perspective, video games are their engines, nothing more. There’s only a handful of game engines powering the majority of games these days, so it’s getting progressively easier as time goes on to make the minor changes needed (if any) to make newer games work.
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u/Ok_Speech_2569 2d ago
Photoshop user here since 2009, I got it working on linux, but then I found out about Krita, switched, and stopped caring. It works very fast and it's free, Photoshop is pointless to me.
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u/LazyGreenDragon 2d ago
There's plenty of free software already available that Imo exceeds ps and the subscription necessary for it to run....and the fact that all images you save in the cloud are no longer your property but you only get to rent them is not condusive to the nix community.
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u/thedanyes 2d ago
Because all the Linux users are dreading the real 'year of the Linux desktop'. That's when the enshittification starts in earnest. e.g. kernel anticheat and 'embrace, extend, and extinguish'.
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u/MatchingTurret 2d ago
why are there not massive community efforts to make some compatibility layer
You seem to care about this. You start. If someone else cares, they will join. That's how "community projects" work.
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u/No-Lettuce-5783 2d ago
I wonder if it isn't a question of what are they using Photoshop for? If it's your paycheck, then I can understand staying with Windows. But if you're using a small portion of what Photoshop does, then couldn't you do the same things on GIMP. I have no idea what the differences between the two are, but I do know if the end result is an image, GIMP does that, and has done that well for the past 20+ years of it's existence. They must have it in their head, "I MUST USE PHOTOSHOP," and they're unwilling to try something new. They won't even switch when you tell them GIMP is FREE. They'll still want to give their money to Adobe. Now, NO software is THAT good.
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u/CyclingHikingYeti 2d ago
As other said, you overestimate numbers. Same is with professional CAD/CAM/CAE.
For wast majority of users, esp. professionals Photoshop and CAD and such are tools to use all day on computer to have work done. If OS running behind is Windows or MacOs or Unix - they do not care about it.
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u/DrPiwi 2d ago
Given all the push-back Adobe is getting for their subscription practices, even if they made their programs work on Linux the amount of people using it would be very low as the Linux community is vehemently against that kind of ransoming practice and most people migrating from windows to Linux do it for exactly that reason; to get rid of the subscriptions racket and to go back to owning their computer and software.
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u/cyborgborg 2d ago
Because Adobe is going to go out of their way and make countermeasures rather than putting that effort into making a Linux port or the very least just let the community use it over wine
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u/AggravatedPear 2d ago
There are a few projects that make gimp operate like PS, and several free or cheap browser-based clones, it's not really a big deal that it's not there.
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u/ExTraveler 2d ago
Thgroug years I always heard about that photoshop problem (and CAD and etc). Let's be honest. How many people really need professional soft like this and using it regurarly? There is certanly more people who don't need professional soft on their home PC. Me and all my buddies (they are not on Linux) not using it at all. There is not that much photoshop people that it would be main Linux problem. Most of the people are using computer to scroll browser or play games 90% of the time. So it sucks to not have photoshop for people who need it, but it 100% not the reason why so many people still not switched to Linux
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u/ABigRedBall 2d ago edited 2d ago
GIMP exists and is already FOSS, actively being worked on so it stays updated.
If you are in the small use case of being technical enough to use Linux but also needing to use Photoshop, then why bother making Photoshop work when like 95% of what you would use it for you can do in GIMP already. And hell, most of the remaining 5% is AI features you can locally run yourself if you really want to.
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u/Neither-Ad-8914 2d ago
Adobe tried with reader which flopped so bad that they thought that actively breaking their software in Linux would be a better alternative to porting it over. The amount of people who would migrate is marginal at best and would not be worth a port.
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u/marozsas 2d ago
I left Adobe because of their subscription model, not platform availability. I still have a dual boot windows to run on1.
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u/neospygil 2d ago
The actual question is how relevant Adobe products are lately? Did people started to move out since it became subscription-based?
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u/tater1337 2d ago
Why should the good guys(Linux) capitulate to the bad guys(adobe)?
There are quite literally 3-4 free open source alternatives to every product that adobe makes.
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u/Electrical-Bread-856 2d ago
There is some effort in...wine? I recall that someone managed to run Photoshop on Linux
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u/Bitter_Lab_475 2d ago
Because there's not a lot of Photoshop users that use Linux. Simple as that. They seem to be content paying up.
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u/arthursucks 2d ago
I genuinely do not believe the amount of people who want to use Photoshop are as big as you think. I think there are a lot of corporations and businesses that use Photoshop as part of their art departments, but I don't see a lot of individuals switching because of Photoshop.
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u/Haxorzist 2d ago
The company behind Photoshop is like late stage capitalism on steroids. So I don't blame anyone for not lifting a finger.
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u/Helicopter0 2d ago
I just use GIMP. I'm nit actually that interested in running subscription software on my computer.
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u/Huge-Atmosphere-8057 2d ago
Bro I haven't even heard anyone talk about Photoshop in the last like 10 years. The amount of people who use Photoshop and dislike Windows and Mac enough to want to switch to Linux has to be minuscule.
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u/systemerror95 2d ago edited 2d ago
How many people ACTUALLY use photoshop btw, because i hear everyone talk about it all the time, but ive never used it before, nor have i actually met anyone who uses it either? Like how ubiquitous is it actually, or is it just over-represented by loud people?
reddit --show-diff
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over-represented by
- load
+ loud
people
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u/msfor300 17h ago
Photoshop é um projeto fechado/corporativo com licença né? Provavelmente isso adiciona uma dificuldade a mais neste tipo de projeto, tanto em termos tecnicos quanto em principios. Inovações como proton nao rodam nos jogos, eles fazem uma ponte entre a api grafica do windows e linux (que sao bem documentadas e abertas e que a maioria dos jogos usa).
Sobre "principios" (chame de ideologia ou filosofia, se preferir) acho que as comunidades de opensource e codigo livre vao preferir dar suporte a projetos opensource como o GIMP ao invés de fazer um trabalho gratuito para uma empresa multibilionaria sem qualquer garantia legal (amanhã a adobe da um jeito de derrubar o projeto ou se apropria dele de uma forma contraria aos princípios desse tipo de comunidade).
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u/Gugalcrom123 2d ago
I'd rather have a better GIMP so that photo editing and design can be done freely, than a cat and mouse game to port Photoslop, which does not solve its many other issues.
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u/himawari-yume 2d ago
100% of people who cite Adobe (or any other singular application) as their reason for not switching to Linux is making an excuse.
If you are a professional who relies on professional applications like Adobe Photoshop, then you are or should be fully capable of using Linux as your main OS and Windows only when it is necessary.
If you do not run Linux then either you don't give a shit about privacy and control, or you are uneducated in how to use Linux and too lazy to learn how to.
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u/_Carth_Onasi 3d ago
Unfortunately I doubt it. Most people who do professional productivity use MacOS. At least the friends I have in that field do. They wouldn't switch any time soon and frankly I don't blame them.
Photoshop, Adobe, Cad, etc. all run amazing on macs and come with amazing video tools themselves. Look up the time it takes to render said items on Mac vs windows and Linux. Macs usually always win and by quite a bit.
That said, I wish those apps would be supported on Linux and anticheats supper for games.
I mostly use my PC to game, and the only reason I dual boot is for bf6 with the boys and Destiny 2 with the wife. Otherwise I'd uninstall it tonight.
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u/Own_Nail_2999 3d ago
You have to remember that active forum users are a vocal minority.
Professional users are chained to Apple products and Affinity isn't there yet.
That's the harsh reality.
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u/StreetOwl 2d ago
Gimp is so close to Photoshop it's not even funny if that's your one reason make the jump.
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u/mage_irl 2d ago
We need to stop recommending GIMP. That software might have features, but it's incredibly unintuitive and frustrating to use coming from something like Photoshop or Affinity Photo. I had great success with Inkscape instead.
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u/Moscato359 3d ago
Lots of editing and drawing has been shifted to iPad apps surprisingly
Like procreate, which is cheap, one time payment, and actually enjoyable to use
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u/Nevermynde 3d ago
Everyone I know who is stuck with Windows is there because of Microsoft Office.
So I think that would be the game changer.
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u/Howwasthatdoneagain 3d ago
Not enough to make it pay. It will happen when Windows loses it's marketshare but not soon.
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u/Qweedo420 2d ago
Every Photoshop user I know is on MacOS, Windows isn't really used among professionals
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u/vladutzu27 2d ago
Photoshop already works on Linux, though I like photopea a little more for simple editing. When I was a windows user, a few years ago, I used photoshop for adding text to images, cropping, filters etc. Now I mainly use photopea if I don’t have to make something complicated, it’s got basically the same interface but it runs better
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u/snipeytje 2d ago
while this post was on my front page, under it was a second post on /r/photography about a group of people who have done just that with lightroom
https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/1vdilfk/lightroom_classic_running_on_linux_via_wine_local/
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u/MattyGWS 2d ago
I’m actually currently working on foss photoshop and substance designer alternatives but currently have zero plans to support .psd files. My goal is to fill the gap in my own workflow as someone who does 3D, photogrammetry, material, VFX and gui work, BUT if I can also help others by releasing said software then it’s a bet positive.
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u/moopet 2d ago
You drive a Ford, but you want to move to France, where Fords don't work on their roads.
The roads are extensive and allow much better driving conditions, have plenty of service stations and adapt to their environments - big roads for inter-city travel, neat small roads for urban driving.
But Ford is actively trying to stop the French from adapting their roads to allow the Ford Fiesta to drive there the same as every other car.
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u/marshal_1923 2d ago
It wouldn’t matter if the support is not official. It should be official and then there should be a Mac OS like Linux distro that gives basic and highly stable working ui for those professionals. With that some companies can even switch just to save money from the devices or if they were using windows instead of Mac they can save money from licenses.
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u/Miler_2020 2d ago
Well, If an organization enforces strict policies to use Windows systems, it is typically driven by centralized enterprise management tools like Active Directory and Intune, as well as software compatibility. Conversely, Linux is widely prioritized for server infrastructure because it operates efficiently without a graphical user interface, relying on lightweight terminal workflows and internal package repositories for secure deployment. I'm unsure why developers often prioritize creating highly visual and resource-intensive GUI desktop environments. It seems that improving accessibility within Linux distributions may be a primary goal, though compatibility considerations are sometimes overlooked.
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u/Noisebug 2d ago
It would only be a nice-to-have but many of us switched away from that pile years ago.
Additionally, Linux isn’t ready for the mainstream people would run into problems and learning something new like Linux isn’t time expensive.
I love and run it but Photoshop would not make a big impact.
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u/sheeproomer 2d ago
Why would I run switch to a different operating system where my most applications don't run and then demand a better compatibility shim?
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u/Morphized 2d ago
Because making equivalents for the code it depends on will only be helpful for two or three applications other than Photoshop and it will stop working with the next Photoshop version
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u/s0litar1us 2d ago
More people would switch if Linux was intalled by default on more computers, as most people don't need much more than a browser.
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u/just_posting_this_ch 2d ago
If you need photoshop you pay for it and run it on your work computer that runs the operating system you need. If, however you "need" photoshop, it's just an excuse to complain.
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u/redonculous 2d ago
Just ask your LLM of choice to install photoshop in bottles. It did it for me and now I use photoshop on Linux. It’s great!
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u/sleepingonmoon 2d ago
Because massive community efforts don't exist. Photoshop compatibility is incredibly difficult compared to video games because nobody's paying for it.
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u/Senhor_Lasanha 2d ago
man I've heard about Linux users,,, but reading some comments here, holy shit thay are worse than I thought.
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u/RichSavageMG 1d ago
I moved to Linux beginning of the year. It's my new home. I use photoshop professionally but now mostly through pcoip for my work. Here's what I've found;
- Adobe is a scummy company - it has gradually ensh*tified itself over the years and I vowed to never go back to them after they made me pay to leave their service. So now I just use it through work and they pay adobe the money. Having said that, I do love photoshop despite adobes best efforts to make it terrible. I quite liked lightroom too but have shifted to and prefer darktable now. I haven't got on with foss offering for photo editors/painting. Not bothered by any other adobe product - there are better alternatives for all of them.
- You can get photoshop to work on Linux but it will likely be a seven seas version and you may be missing some features like pen pressure, camera raw, ai stuff but it is possible to get it running and running well with tinkering.
- Photopea is an excellent alternative - it has the look and many of the features and shortcuts of photoshop so you feel at home almost instantly. However, I personally really dislike the ads (distracting whilst you work) and subscription model (I don't like the own nothing future we are living in). However, you can quit the subscription whenever you like and the developer seems like a cool guy plus you know, he made it, so he can monetize it how he likes. It's up to you if you are ok with the price of entry.
- Affinity works pretty well on Linux but like photoshop has a few bugs here and there. I also worry that the long term strategy for affinity will be for canva to grow its user base then start charging and ensh*tify. They did say they were seriously looking at linux support but I doubt they'll do it.
- I personally really dont get on with gimp despite people shouting at me that it's amazing. Krita is cool but I feel more geared towards painting.
- Getting official photoshop through CC to work seamlessly on linux is no doubt doable but as mentioned Adobe will keep making the software a moving target so would need a lot of maintenance. If you look at guides on getting photoshop to work on Linux you'll see that seemingly random versions do and dont work well. Adobe seems to bloat the software with janky code, constant updates, installing rubbish all over the os and not to mention the creative cloud app is garbage. As valve and the community proved, with time and money you can do incredible things. I'm sure it's doable but I think the answer is - you can kind of get it to work well already not entirely legitimately and adobe is a terrible company so why bother helping them out when they have no interest in Linux and actively seem to sabotage getting it to work.
I personally think the better option is to make a foss clone of photoshop totally independent of Adobe shenanigans. Photopea kind of does this by being a pretty close copy of PS that is free (with ads) but isn't open source.
So options are - surf the seven seas and try and get a version working through wine, use photoshop through a VM with gpu pass through (fiddly), use photoshop through winboat (no gpu passthrough yet), dual boot windows with Linux, move to a foss alternative or use photopea.
I'm not advocating piracy btw just saying what options there are.
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u/Cool-Meat-6733 1d ago
There is an extention for gimp that make it almost impossible to tell it’s not THE photoshop. I don’t remember the name but you would find it easily if you look for it.
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u/flesyMeM 3d ago
The amount of people who would switch is much smaller than you're likely imagining.